Embassy Chefs 'Bend The Rules A Little Bit' For King Charles, Queen Camilla's US Visit

King Charles III and Queen Camilla are visiting the United States. On their very first day, they paid a visit to the British Embassy, where they attended a garden party and had afternoon tea — what can we say, the Brits do love their traditions. Within those traditions, though, there is space for experimentation, as shown by the garden party's menu, which included a flavor that's normally not part of afternoon tea: the roast beef and horseradish combo.

In a video shared by the British Embassy Washington on X, the Head Chef at the Embassy, Craig Harnden, revealed that four types of sandwiches were prepared for the afternoon tea, including a roast beef and horseradish one. Harnden acknowledged that this sandwich is "not normally traditionally involved in the afternoon tea flavors," but the Embassy happens to have the "first imports of British beef, which I'm more than happy to use for this special occasion. Bend the rules a little bit." Indeed, the roast beef and horseradish sandwich is more of an English pub staple, and perhaps not what King Charles typically eats every day.

The rest of the garden party menu was much more aligned with the traditional afternoon tea picks. There was a Scottish smoked salmon sandwich, made with lemon butter, the creamy egg mayonnaise sandwich, and, of course, the cucumber sandwich, which has been a classic since the Victorian era. However, in the Embassy's social media video, Chef Harnden did admit to yet another rule-bending decision. "We do make it a little bit more interesting by pickling the cucumbers slightly," he said. The chef did not mess with tradition when it comes to scones, though, which were served freshly baked with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

If you're raising an American eyebrow at this all-British menu, rest assured that King Charles and Queen Camilla will surely dig into some American specialties while on this visit. There's a state dinner planned for day two, and while that menu is still kept tightly under wraps, many experts speculate that it's not going to be built around British flavors and will instead represent the host country's culture. Still, hopefully, the White House will consider the foods King Charles refuses to eat, to avoid any potential awkward moments.